The Lions are practicing at night all this week (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

LIONS TRAINING CAMP

Lions hoping to get out of heat, smoke during night practices this week

Jul 13, 2021 | 10:19 AM

KAMLOOPS — The B.C. Lions took the field at Hillside Stadium on Monday night (July 12) for their first practice under the lights in Kamloops.

With the Kamloops Track and Field Club having booked the field from 8 a.m. to noon Monday to Friday this week, the Leos had to push their practices, and new head coach Rick Campbell didn’t want them to be during the heat of the day.

“I think it’s supposed to be in the mid-30s, even like 36, and if we did it [in the afternoon] we’d practice at one o’clock, so we’d be literally in the heat of the day,” said Campbell. “It’s still going to be warm at night, but I think it’s good. Our first game we play in Saskatchewan I believe is at 7 or 7:30, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing to experience that for a few days, and the practice will be under the lights. I also find training camp to change things up a bit is good, too.”

The Lions will be practicing under the lights all this week. With heavy smoke filling the Kamloops sky, the players say it’s a little distracting, but hasn’t yet taken away from their preparation on the field.

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“The smoke, you notice it. Wake up in the middle of the night, go use the bathroom and it smells like there was a barbeque going on, so that’s a little bit weird,” said Lions’ QB Michael Reilly. “But once you get on the field and you start playing football, it’s all the same as it always is.”

He added, “Obviously, we’re hoping the fires get knocked down and people aren’t affected too bad, but it’s weird to sit this press box and you can’t even see the mountains and across the way. The smoke has been fine for most of the days, but a couple days it’s been pretty thick.”

The Lions are hoping the smoke will be a little better in the evening, but will be monitoring the haze for the safety of the players to ensure it’s okay to practice.

“One of the big steps is with Tristan [Sandhu], our athletic therapist, is that he’s monitoring air quality. They do it on a scale of 1-10, so he makes sure we’re at a safe level,” said Campbell. “For example, I think [Sunday] was a five, so we make sure we’re good to go on that, so we’re not compromising anybody’s health.”

He added, “The last couple days, the breeze tends to kick up as the day goes on, which is obviously a big help, so the air’s not so stagnant. We’re hoping that at night, the evenings it seems to have been better, so we’re hoping that’s the case on these evening practices.”